Braids And A Pizza Guy
by ThisIsAwesomeness
Summary: Annabeth and the girls are having a sleepover and pizza guy happens to join in the fun. AU. For Smiles Burn In The Styx.


**A/N: Finally! This goes for Smiles Burn In The Styx, for winning that favor. Yup, yup. I did what I can do and hope you'll like this.**

 **Yeah.**

* * *

It's Friday night and the girls are having an intense pillow fight inside Annabeth's room.

Everyone is breathing heavily, their pillows carefully positioned as they prepare to block or attack. Whatever friendship they have is set aside for the moment as their hostile gazes travel around the room, murderous enough to make anyone cower in fear.

A moment of silence, and everyone jumps around.

Annabeth makes a run for Thalia and the punk smashes her pillow to Reyna. Reyna goes for Piper, while the Cherokee girl rushes to the youngest, Hazel. And Hazel, in turn, fights Annabeth, therefore sending the room in a total chaos.

"Take that for eating my chocolate bar!" the blonde yells.

"I didn't know about that," Thalia retorts and smacks Reyna with her pillow. "That's for you Reyna for ditching me in that party."

"Geez. You are still mad about that?" Reyna cringes and turns to Piper. "I hate you for winning that red dress, Pipes."

The Cherokee girl smirks. "That suits me better." Then Piper attacks Hazel. "You are too innocent, Hazel."

Hazel just smiles and thinks of something to blame on Annabeth. "That's for making us watch awful and boring documentaries."

"Those are helpful!" Annabeth argues.

"I agree with Hazel," Piper says.

Reyna smiles sadly at the blonde. "Yeah."

An evil grin creeps up Thalia's face. "Let's go all out on Annie for all those awful and boring documentaries!"

"Hurray!" they shout.

"No way. . ." Annabeth blinks for two seconds before her vision gets covered with pillows.

All of the girls squeal in laughter, drowning the blonde's muffled protests. They are crowding her, but Annabeth didn't seem to mind it at all. It feels good to have her closest friends together and just fool around like regular teenage girls who talk about boys and clothes. She laughs too, because even though her circle of friends are somewhat weird (and dangerous too), Annabeth will never wish to have it in any other way.

After a minute or two, they are all sprawled on the floor, their adrenaline rush from the previous minute now burned out.

"I'm starving," Thalia voices out. Her stomach rumbles for an effect.

Hazel raises her head and frowns at the punk. "Me too."

"I say Annabeth orders the pizza. She's our host after all." Reyna stifles a yawn and grins at the blonde. Annabeth glares at her but stands up anyway.

"Fine," Annabeth grumbles. She stomps towards the door, muttering something about not having anymore sleepovers in her house.

She orders 5 boxes of pizza: 3 Pepperoni and 2 Hawaiian pizzas because they're one hell of a monster when it comes to food. Given that all of them are starving at the moment and even one box for each didn't seem enough.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rings.

The five food-deprived monsters run towards the door, eager to have the pizzas for themselves. In the end, Annabeth gets to open it and four more faces peer out from behind her.

"Is Annabeth Chase there? I've got pizza delivery for her," says the pizza guy behind the stack of boxes. He stumbles a bit, almost dropping the boxes.

She's about to make a snarky comment about the clumsy pizza delivery guy but her words get trapped in her throat. When he lowers the boxes just below his chin, Annabeth gets a good look of his face and- good God, did she ever think of teasing him again. Apparently, the said clumsy pizza guy is borderline handsome with his shaggy black hair and strong jaw line. But the thing that most definitely caught Annabeth's attention is his sea green eyes; bright and twinkling with happiness. He seems to be the type who gives smiles too frequent but still managing to be adorable.

He flashes her a bashful smile and it makes a little dip on his right cheek that drives Annabeth's heart crazy. She looks down on her feet, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

She's just contemplating on what to say when she hears the surprised gasps of her bestfriends behind her. Gee, why not? That pizza guy is way too handsome. So, she kind of expects that.

"Percy?!" the girls utter.

Okay. Annabeth does not expect that.

Handsome Pizza Guy's eyes widen in recognition. "Thalia, Piper, Hazel and Reyna?"

She certainly does not expect that.

Her bestfriends step forward, now coming in full view. They are still clad in their pajamas and they happen to know this Percy guy that they didn't bother to be least embarrassed.

Piper is the first one to speak. "I didn't know you work as a delivery guy!"

"I just recently started. I needed the money," he replies. "So, are you guys having a sleepover?"

"Yeah," Thalia answers. "It's Annie's turn to be the host now."

"Annie?" Percy looks back at Annabeth with a questioning gaze.

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes at Thalia. "It's Annabeth, actually. And I take it you're Percy based on what I've heard?"

His eyes light up and his grin stretches so wide that it almost reaches Annabeth's heart. "Yeah. Nice meeting you, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiles back at him and extends her hand when she suddenly realizes that his hands are occupied.

Oops.

Her cheeks grow a little warm as she tries to take the boxes from him. Reyna and Hazel help her and carry it inside.

"Thanks," he says.

Annabeth reaches for her purse to pay him when Thalia blurts out something.

"You should join us," Thalia says.

Piper's head perks up. "Yeah. We could use another company."

Percy smiles at them. "That's cool. But-"

"Annabeth, you'll approve right?" Piper asks her with her big kaleidoscopic eyes.

She nods before she can even think about it. "That's fine with me. If he really wants to join."

Percy grins at her like he can't believe she'll actually approve. "Alright."

And suddenly, Annabeth doesn't feel like hungry anymore.

* * *

"So, we'll braid each other's hair," Piper announces once the movie's ending credits rolls.

They had just finished devouring on the pizzas while watching the latest chicklit movie. And all throughout that, Annabeth got to know Percy - the handsome pizza guy - better.

As a matter of fact, he happen to be Thalia's and Hazel's cousin, and a friend to Piper and Reyna. Still, Annabeth finds it weird that they never got to meet sooner since they both have some friends in common.

"But I can't braid!" Thalia groans.

Reyna sends the punk a mischievous smirk. "I'll braid Thalia's and you can do mine, Piper."

"I'll have yours, McLean," Annabeth says.

"Okay," the Cherokee girl agrees and looks over to Hazel. The girl shakes her head.

"I'm brushing mine tonight. And you can't braid it you know," Hazel says with a grin. She shares a look with Annabeth.

"Perks of having a curly hair," the blonde says with a laugh. Annabeth moves behind Piper and takes the hair in her hands when she feels a presence settle at her back.

She glances behind to see Percy smiling softly at her. He holds a brush in his right hand.

"I'll braid yours," he says.

Annabeth laughs and shakes her head at him, the idea of brushing and braiding her hair is just too comical. "You can't. I couldn't even brush it without a comb getting stuck."

He sits with his legs tucked beneath him yet he still manages to be taller than her. "I can try."

She smiles at his stubbornness and lets him do it. There's no harm in trying, anyway.

Percy removes her curls from the messy ponytail, letting it tumble down behind her back. Annabeth shivers a little when she feels his long and frail fingers run through her hair, his fingertips pressing lightly on her scalp. It's soothing and she finds herself marveling at the feel of having someone touch her hair. She can sense the strange intimacy of having Percy brush her hair, like trusting him enough to have the key to her secrets.

Annabeth inhales sharply and closes her eyes when his fingers accidentally brush the nape of her neck: one of her sensitive spots.

"Are you okay?" Percy asks in concern.

"Yeah," Annabeth breathes, eyes still closed. "I'm okay."

Slowly, the clock ticks by until the girls fall asleep one by one. Hazel's the first, followed by Thalia and Reyna.

Piper is already starting to droop off so Annabeth grabs the nearest pillow for her bestfriend. Eventually, the girl's breathing becomes even, leaving only Percy and Annabeth awake.

"I am almost done," Percy informs her. His voice is low and whispered, like he's sharing a special secret with her.

He is actually able to tame her hair, much more set it in a braid. To say the least, Annabeth is indeed, impressed with his skill. Which makes it harder not to fall for him. If she's being honest, she will definitely agree that 'guys who know how to do a girl's hair' are really cute. So it leads to the conclusion that Annabeth finds Percy cute. And handsome, too.

Shut it.

"How did you learn to do this?" Annabeth questions in genuine curiosity.

She can picture him smiling; his lips upturned in a way that one is slightly higher than the other.

"I have a younger sister. I used to do her hair when she was still a kid," Percy answers.

'A good brother, too,' she thinks.

"Really?" he asks, amused.

She must've been thinking out loud. Oh well. "Yeah. I think you're a good brother."

"Thanks."

"Mhmm."

Percy finishes and secures it with an elastic band.

"I did it." He beams at his work of art, his expression oozing with pride.

Annabeth turns to face him and accidentally bumps her elbow on his knee. "Sorry," she mumbles.

"It's okay."

This time, Percy stares at her, too discreet that it makes Annabeth blush. She tries so hard to meet his unwavering gaze, hoping that he'll not notice the strange effect he has on her.

He snaps out of it soon enough. Percy looks down and shakes her head like he just realized something. "I should go now."

"Okay."

He helps her clean the mess and Annabeth remembers that he's here for two hours now.

"You've been here for two hours now. Wouldn't your supervisor fire you?"

"Nah. It's okay. I think he'll fire me soon, anyway."

They finish cleaning and she guides him to her front door. It's weird, but there's that feeling of disappointment that bubbles in her chest as they stand there.

"Thanks for having me here," Percy mutters, his ever bright smile still present on his face.

"No worries. Thank you too. For the company," Annabeth mumbles. And she adds, "Also for braiding my hair."

"My pleasure." His hand hovers on the doorknob. "So. . .goodnight, Annabeth."

She tucks an invisible curl behind her ear and smiles sheepishly at him. "You too, Percy."

They remain unmoving.

He catches her gaze and she raises an eyebrow at him. Percy stutters. "Uh, right. The door."

The knob turns slowly, before he releases his hold. He faces her again, this time the redness on his cheeks is too noticeable.

"I was wondering if. . .you'll call me. Some other time. Not, uh, through pizza. Yeah, not through pizza. They'd probably fire me. I-I mean through my phone-

Annabeth cuts off his rambling. "Are you trying to ask for my number?"

Percy rubs his neck awkwardly. "Right."

She smiles at him as she fishes for a paper in her pockets. "I thought you'd never ask."

When he glances at the paper with her number and a small note, his smile widens even more so. "Thanks. So. . .bye."

"Bye," Annabeth repeats.

Percy manages to open the door and steps out, sending her a lingering gaze. But, before he can completely turn around, he swoops forward and presses a quick kiss on her cheek. Then Percy jogs and disappears into the night.

A stupid grin crawls on her face and won't come down. So, after she closes the door quietly behind her, forgive Annabeth if she's jumping and dancing and singing, just enough to wake the rest of the girls.

"Annabeth!"

Oh well.


End file.
